Preventative Maintenance

[tmontague]

I'm curious as to what you all do for preventative maintenance on your cars. I want to make sure I'm covering all bases so my Yaris can run as long as possible on the salt covered road of Southern Ontario.

I currently do the following:

-Remove and re-install control arm bolts and cover in grease
-Oil and filter change every 8,000km w/ synthetic oil
-brake service ever year (re lube slider pins, clean pads and rotate pads if necessary)
-Replace MTF every 2 years w/ synthetic ~40,000km
-coolant flush and fill w/ Toyota Red every 2 years~40,000km
-Spray bolts and rust prone parts on underbody ever 6 months with an anti rust compound
-inspect and clean PCV valve every year
-bleed brakes every year
-bleed clutch every year and lube pivot points
-check valve shim clearance every 40,000km
-wax car every 6 months

that's what I've been doing so far with good results. Anything else I could do that doesn't cost a crazy amount of money? The salted roads wreak havoc on the cars down here and after my first car (Hyundai Accent) was a pain to work on due to every bolt being seized underneath it I learned my lesson and any bolt I remove gets sprayed with an anti rust compound before re-installing.

[bronsin]

check under the hood for red coolant stains indicating a leaking watre pump every 6 months.

grease battery terminals with wheel bearing grease.

clean leaves and debris on air intake under the hood for interior air intake

manual oil change unnecessary at your interval

valve clearance interval 60k miles. Probably not needed either.


your coolant change interval is too often. see owners manual.

have interior of car cleaned twice a year and car washed four times a year.

Otherwise sounds excellent!

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by bronsin

your coolant change interval is too often. see owners manual.

thanks for the response. I was trying to find info regarding the red coolant recommended change vs the super long life pink. The best I could find is that red is good for 30,000 miles and pink for 50,000 miles. I figured i'd rather play it safe, that being said I'd rather stretch out the interval is safe to do so.

[bronsin]

The maintenance on these cars is very low and its not terribly important to follow it to the letter or get pro active. My sons ECHO went 200k miles and still ran when we sold it. I cant tell you how many times when he came home to visit and I checked the oil to find nothing on the dipstick!

[IllusionX]

MTF should be done every 65k km according to toyota Canada.

[Lux]

Originally Posted by tmontague

I currently do the following:

1. Remove and re-install control arm bolts and cover in grease
2. Oil and filter change every 8,000km w/ synthetic oil
3. brake service ever year (re lube slider pins, clean pads and rotate pads if necessary)
4. Replace MTF every 2 years w/ synthetic ~40,000km
5. coolant flush and fill w/ Toyota Red every 2 years~40,000km
6. Spray bolts and rust prone parts on underbody ever 6 months with an anti rust compound
7. inspect and clean PCV valve every year
8. bleed brakes every year
9. bleed clutch every year and lube pivot points
10. check valve shim clearance every 40,000km
11. wax car every 6 months

1. Control arm bolts are an excellent preventive procedure.
2. Depends on what oil. Not all synthetics, here, are real group V synthetics like in Europe. Mobil 1, for example, is a complete waste of time where synthetics are concerned. Furthermore, your driving and operating conditions have a significant effect on the oil's longevity-- I would say moreso than whether your oil is synthetic.
3. Given my persistent troubles with front brakes, this is a good idea. Being consumables, pad rotation will not by you any more perceived service life.
4. Synthetic gear oil inside your gearbox doesn't guarantee quality, nor is it required-- or even recommended. Adequate lubricity, shear resistance, and shock protection are what matter. A LOT of synthetic gear oils out there will WORSEN your shifting because the oil is too slippery (high lubricity), preventing the synchroniser assemblies from working properly. Royal Purple Synchromax synthetic gear oil is one of them. You need friction for the blocking ring to slip the synchroniser sleeve over the hub for each gear.
5. Toyota's Super Long Life Coolant can last up to 100'000 km, but your due diligence prevents organic acidification, which is the purpose of the service.
6. Good idea.
7. Good idea.
8. Good idea. Might want to change your bleeder screws next time because of GTA's climate. Speaking from experience.
9. Good idea. I prefer molybdenum disulfide lube, but mostly anything will work at your intervals.
10. Not much benefit in doing it so frequently.
11. I'd be lucky to wash once in 6 months.

Hyundai are not very well-made cars, so I wouldn't allow that Accent to be the standard-bearer for the industry. Ask me how I know that.

I do spark plugs more frequently than scheduled because, for manual gearboxes, the engine revs low enough to lug under load.

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by Lux

[LIST=1][*]Depends on what oil. Not all synthetics, here, are real group V synthetics like in Europe. Mobil 1, for example, is a complete waste of time where synthetics are concerned. Furthermore, your driving and operating conditions have a significant effect on the oil's longevity-- I would say moreso than whether your oil is synthetic.
[*]Synthetic gear oil inside your gearbox doesn't guarantee quality, nor is it required-- or even recommended. Adequate lubricity, shear resistance, and shock protection are what matter. A LOT of synthetic gear oils out there will WORSEN your shifting because the oil is too slippery (high lubricity), preventing the synchroniser assemblies from working properly. Royal Purple Synchromax synthetic gear oil is one of them. You need friction for the blocking ring to slip the synchroniser sleeve over the hub for each gear.

I do spark plugs more frequently than scheduled because, for manual gearboxes, the engine revs low enough to lug under load.

I forgot to mention spark plugs, I'll likely do this every 75,000km or so as I tend to shift on the lower rev range (not lug) to increase fuel economy.

I am using a GL-5 "synthetic" motomaster gear oil which I find is a little better than what the car came with in winter morning shifts, but its still not very good. I will be switching to a GL-4 which I'll have to purchase online down the road as it apparently is a much better gear oil for the Yaris.

The engine oil I use is not a true class V syn oil. It's canadian tire's in store "synthetic" ( I think it's called formula somehting and is made by Shell), but I have found it to be much easier on the car start ups in cold mornings and I get it on sale for $17 for 5L.

I check periodically under the hood for the water pump streak as well as coolant levels. So far I've had no w/p issues. I can tell the struts are due for replacement, will be waiting until after the winter for those. The rear is a little noisy on the occasional bump and it tends to go over bumps a little on the rough side

[mitchell12]

Lubing the control arm bolts is pointless and retorqing them all the time is retarded. They are always being stretched and are getting weakened because of it. The bushing doesnt actually rotate around the bolt. Its torselastic so the metal part stays stationary and the rubber part twists around it. Lubing the bolts might make sense if it was a leaf spring bolt but for this you are wasting time and possibly weakening the bolt.

I hope you are at least tightening the bolt with the control arm in the ride height position or you are also ruining the life span on the bushing.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by mitchell12

Lubing the control arm bolts is pointless and retorqing them all the time is retarded. They are always being stretched and are getting weakened because of it. The bushing doesnt actually rotate around the bolt. Its torselastic so the metal part stays stationary and the rubber part twists around it. Lubing the bolts might make sense if it was a leaf spring bolt but for this you are wasting time and possibly weakening the bolt.

I hope you are at least tightening the bolt with the control arm in the ride height position or you are also ruining the life span on the bushing.

Coating the control arm bolts is to prevent the corrosion issue where they disintegrate within the tube and then snap off.

[mitchell12]

I get that, and thats fine. The problem I have is taking them out and retorqing them all the time. If you are going to take is apart and grease it then fine. But I would be more inclined to get new bolts every 5 years instead of lubing it and retorqing it so often.

[tmontague]

Depending on where people live and road conditions some bolts aren't lasting 5 years. I replaced mine last spring and the ones in there were on the verge of snapping as they were crumbling when being removed. I installed new bolts with grease all over them. I will be checking them this spring (1 year later) and seeing what kind of shape they're in and re-greasing if necessary. If they are in great shape then I will check them in 2 years instead of every year.

There is a much higher risk/detriment to leaving them in due to a perceived fear of torquing them and causing them to snap than not inspecting them and guessing when they'll snap due to rust. The reality is that they are snapping on people's Yaris' due to rust and a lack of full inspection (not just simply looking at the exposed top when installed) and not because of people removing them to inspect.

[wufai]

tmontague,

can I come over to your place and you teach me the finer points in car maintainence? I live in toronto and at 135000km I know I need to change the coolant but lack the experience.

[tmontague]

sure, shoot me a pm and I can show you what I have done. I'm located in the west end of Mississauga now which is a bit closer than Oakville to TO anyways.

[jack black]

Originally Posted by tmontague

I currently do the following:

-Remove and re-install control arm bolts and cover in grease
-Oil and filter change every 8,000km w/ synthetic oil
-brake service ever year (re lube slider pins, clean pads and rotate pads if necessary)
-Replace MTF every 2 years w/ synthetic ~40,000km
-coolant flush and fill w/ Toyota Red every 2 years~40,000km
-Spray bolts and rust prone parts on underbody ever 6 months with an anti rust compound
-inspect and clean PCV valve every year
-bleed brakes every year
-bleed clutch every year and lube pivot points
-check valve shim clearance every 40,000km
-wax car every 6 months

good idea
good synthetic can go double that
I thought I was the only person rotating brake pads? LOL!
overkill
I thought it was every 3 years?
good idea
good idea
good idea
not sure?
way overkill (100,000 miles is more like it, especially as not easy to adjust the clearance).
good idea (if you wash first)

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by jack black

way overkill (100,000 miles is more like it, especially as not easy to adjust the clearance).
good idea (if you wash first)

I just realized that 40,000km is definitely overkill, I'll likely go 75,000km-100,000km before I check again.

On a side note I noticed an oil stain on the outside of my engine coming from the valve cover. I checked the bolts and had to re-torque them as the bolts in that area had come really loose. The seal was fine when I re installed the valve cover last summer so I'm going to clean it up and see if the oil comes back.

[shastatodd]

i read (somewhere) there is a timing chain tensioner adjustment that should be done at 100K. comments?

i have 100,800 miles on my 09 liftback now. about 60% of that is highway driving. i have done nothing but change the synthetic oil every 5k, one set of tires and of course fuel... which, averaging 45 mpg has not been much!

i think i should change the manual transmission oil, coolant and spark plugs. comments?

l love this car.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by shastatodd

i read (somewhere) there is a timing chain tensioner adjustment that should be done at 100K. comments?

I've never had that done on my 07, and I'm closing in on 300,000 miles.

[jack black]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I've never had that done on my 07, and I'm closing in on 300,000 miles.

Have you checked valve clearance anytime in the 300,000 miles?